There are alot of chain restaurants out there and its hard to find anything decent. My favorite is Carlucci's, its an italian BYO with a nice atmosphere, good pastas, less than 5 minutes from Sesame place.

A few miles away there is a great Mexican place, Cancun...very family friendly and good, fresh food. Highly recommend...especially over the chain restaurants. It's down the road in the shopping center with the IHOP and A-1 Japanese Steak House..

I'm resurrecting this thread because my family will be making a trek to Sesame Place (from Ohio) in May. My husband, 3.5 year old and I all appreciate good quality food and prefer to support restaurants that are not chains.

The restaurants mentioned in this thread... Cancun, Mirim and Charming Garden... are they all still around and worth visiting? Any others worth considering? Is there a worthwhile take-out pizza place around town (again, no chains please)?

Also, In attempting to google Carlucci's, another name came up for the Langhorne location: Mamma Mia's. I presume it's the same place, just renamed and still gets good reviews? (And what sort of pizza do they make -- traditional, more gourmet, etc?)

Another question... are there any good, local bakeries in Langhorne for such things as homemade bread, muffins, croissants, that sort of thing, for a quick & tasty breakfast?

Mirim is still good-have been within the last couple of months. People rave about Fritz's bakery and their cinnamon buns, but I've never had them. In the same little strip mall is aDominicks Pizza, a local pizza chain that started in Trenton. We like the branch in washington's crossing and assume this is the same. The W.C. branch has zeppole which are good, as are the pizza and tomato pies.(tomato pies are a Trenton thing)

Thank you! I checked out the menu for Dominick's (I'd consider a local chain to be ok -- I'm just not into the big national ones) in Langhorne and did not see tomato pie spelled out on the menu for that location. Is that it's exact name and how it would appear? I would be interested in trying a regional specialty (though I guess we could always drive to Trenton if that's the only place that has them). Any other local delights in that area worth mentioning?

On the Dominick's website, it looks like the Richboro location menu only, but under pizza there is a trenton style pizza listed-which is the tomato pie. Basically, the cheese on a tomato pie is under the sauce, so the pie is more tomato-ier than a typical pizza. I was assuming that all thei locations all have pretty much the same menu. Near Mirim there is an asian grocery called H Mart which has a tiny eating area (near the cah registers--took me 3 visits to notice it) which serves really authentic korean-had a great, spicy seafood soup there this winter-may be too weird for kids, but an odd, local place.

Thanks! We just may check that out. I do love tomatoes. :) It has just been determined that we'll be staying in Warminster at the Holiday inn. Is there anything worthwhile either there (China Dragon doesn't look far from the hotel -- any good?) or Hatboro, Southampton, that general area -- just in case we need a 'close to the hotel' place as fallback?

Blue Sage Grill in Southampton, 2nd ave Pike, is terrific--even if you aren't a vegetarian. I would definitely make a reservation-it is small and gets crowded. We liked a brand new place, also on 2nd Ave Pike called House of Pho---really nice father and son owners who we met the day we were there. Small, but tasty, menu. Taormina's of Ivyland is a nice friendly, casual Italian place. (I don't live anywhere near, but there's a brand new Costco, and we keep trying different places for lunch) I've also read some nice reviews of Cafe Remi, Albanian AND Italian!, but haven't managed to get there when it is open---In the same little strip mall there's a nice family run Asian place that we liked one nite when Remi was closed.. Don't know its name, but there's only one in that mall. Friends liked Rey Azteca which they said was nearby(and obviously Mexican)

If you want a Non-chain near Sesame Place, go to JB Dawson's in Langhorne, Issac's in Newtown, La Stalla, The Saloon and Duck Sauce in Newtown, Carlucci's, Yardley Inn and Christine's in Yardley. Also there is the Bridgetown Mill House between Newtown and Langhorne. I live in the area and have for a very long time. These are better than any chain restaurant. Also Piccolo Trattoria opened up in Flowers Mill just south on route one at maple avenue.

If you haven't take your trip yet, here are some honest assessment of the area by a fellow foodie. To find something good, local and authentic near Seaseme Place and the surrounds takes some mining. Most of the places around here lack character in food and atmosphere.

Blue Sage really worth a visit. I am not a vegatetian but my meal there was very well prepard and tasty.

Miriam- good local Korean place worth a try.

Steve's Prince of Steaks - great place near Seaseme to have authentic Philly cheesesteaks. One of the best cheesesteaks in the area and Philly.

Charming Garden - don't waste your time. Really slipped over the past few years and not worth the visit

Dominics - hit or miss. Again, not really Chowhound worthy.

Fritz Bakery - Good Sticky buns. Maybe for breakfast before Seasame.

Slacks - local chain good for hogies (subs) very close to Seasame place.

Yardley pizza - good local pizza pie, especially when you order it fresh for you. Much better than Dominics.

If you want real authenticity Trenton tomato pie, you will have to travel to Delorenzos, recently moved from Trenton to Robbinsville. Great pizza. .

La Stella in Newtown - really good local Italian place. Great atmosphere good food.

China dragon - very average Chinese food. Not sure you should be making the drive from your hotel for this place. There are plenty of average Chinese places all over the region.

JB Dawson's - Very average like a local Fridays. Not worth the excursion.

From Warminster I would consider the above. Plus if you like a nice Jewish Deli check out Ben and Irvs. Great for breakfast!

Those are local suggestions. If you have the time, from sesame you can hop onto 95 South and be in Philadelphia Chinatown within 30 minutes. Now that is a place for very good food that is worth the visit. Lots of great local treasures there.